Love can be categorized into three stages: lust, attraction, and attachment.

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Lust:
  • Fueled by estrogen and testosterone (testosterone in men, estrogen in women)
    • During this time, we feel completely love struck, and we have trouble thinking of anything but the person we have fallen in love with.
Attraction:
  • Three main neurotransmitters involved in this stage of love
    • Adrenaline
      • During this stage your stress response is activated which in turn increases your blood levels of adrenaline.
        • Effects:
          • You feel exhilarated
          • Your mouth gets dry
          • Your heart rate speeds up
          • You may start to sweat
    • Dopamine
      • When triggered by intense pleasure, dopamine starts a rewards system in the brain.
        • This rewards system makes you want to be with your partner more often.
      • Effects of release of dopamine
        • More energy
        • Less need for sleep
        • Less need for food
        • Fixed attention
        • High delight
    • Seratonin
      • Changes the way you think
Attachment:
  • This stage of love keeps couples together for long enough to sustain children
  • Two hormones are involved in this stage of love
    • Oxtyocin
      • Released by both men and women after sex
      • Increases trust
      • Causes mother rats to become attached to their pups
    • Vasopressin
      • Important in maintaining long term relationships
      • Prairie voles were given a chemical to decrease their levels of vasopressin,and as a result eventually left their partner. Go to our Current Research page for more information on this.

Enjoy the video below ;D


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